New "Anvil" stand in.

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Well I went back to that shop in Plainview TX to take a second look at those Chinese cast steel anvils I had found last month and I ended up walking out with a 134lb 7" round by 12" tall steel post instead. It only cost me $45 and I figure it is probably better quality steel then the $200 Chinese anvil. I bent a 1.5" round piece steel bar to use as a horn and mounted it in a second stump.

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No it is not mounted on the wood yet just sitting there. I will be moving soon so I want to be able to pick it up. When I get to where I am going I will make a Proper stand for it. And I am still working on the hardy tool thing, another thing to put on the to do list for after the move.

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I wouldn't be so quick to trash the quality of Chinese goods, i.e. the cast steel anvils you passed over. I've used a lot of hand tools and machinery from China. For good or for bad, many of them outperform American or Canadian made goods, both in terms of quality and price. Of course, some are complete junk. In general, however, the trend of quality over time is sloping upward. Chinese steel working in particular is highly developed; I'd bet money those were some decent anvils.

That said, if a $45 hunk of random steel of unknown origin suits your needs better than a purpose made anvil, then great, you saved $155 which you can spend on other things.

Having done business in China for about a year now, I can say from experience that the level of enthusiasm, engagement, customer focus and detail-orientedness of Chinese business and manufacturing puts the majority (not all) of American and Canadian business to shame. My company gets lukewarm reception at best in the US and Canada, and it's incredibly difficult to find anyone to commit even small amounts of resources to undertake pilot projects, or even just to trial our technology. This could be a reflection of the so-called economic conditions in the US & Canada. But contrast this with China, a developing country, where people literally throw money at us just to get a product to market faster.

Everyone talks about how important "buying local" and "supporting American business" are, but when it comes down to signing the cheque, almost everybody hums and haws and backs away from the table. Like it or not, the reality is that Chinese goods will continue to increase in quality & performance.

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I can't be sure if my hunk of still works better then the Chinese anvil I passed up but I can say it has worked great for me so far for less then a quarter of the cost. The bottom line is that I have saved some money on a hobby I am just getting into. If Smiting is something I decide to delve deeper into I will probably take a another look at that Chinese anvil.